With all the budget cut pressures on the MOD and the expenses to equip British troops adequately to fight properly in the ongoing war in Afghanistan have forced soldiers to shell out from their own small pockets for equipment they need. During the enquiry on the British Armed Forces last February, it was told that troops were sent in without the necessary body armour.

To help assist British troops get the equipment they need, two University College London post-graduate students, Steve McGregor and Inaam Tahir, put up a British Armed Forces charity called Kit4Troops. MacGregor was a 101st Airborne Captain deployed in Iraq and was wounded there and his experience when he was deployed in Iraq, in which friends, family, and even strangers were sending them stuff that they need as based on their wishlists to even make their equipment even better. Inaam Tahir works for an accounting firm in London.

Kit4Troops is setup to allow troops already deployed or about to be deployed to put up their equipment "wishlist" online. This is like a Bridal Registry, in which about to be wed couples put up a list of items they need to get them started with their married life. Friends and family then can choose which items on the list to purchase and send to the couple. Kit4Troops expand this concept that will allow the British public, who can be complete strangers to the soldiers, to gift them the equipment they need.

While the website is still undergoing improvements as it just launched online at 1700H GMT yesterday, you can already sign up and see an initial list of troops who have put up their wishlists. Kit4Troops is still spreading the word around so there is still a short list of recipients. If you are a soldier in the British Army, you can create your own profile at the website and put up your wishlist.

Supporters can interact with the recipients and this can be a forum where they can interact with the troops to discuss issues with regards to equipment, update themselves on what is happening, and overall discuss the welfare of the troops.

If you are an equipment supplier of military equipment, either via retail or wholesale, you can sign-up as a Partner. Some of the partners that have signed-up with Kit4Troops include Magpul, Oakley, Edgar Brothers, SpecialForces Kit. We do not know yet the mechanics on being a partner, but we assume it is giving special rates or discounts to help the troops.

Airsoft players can always be a big help to the troops. Airsoft is an expensive hobby and we spend hundreds of pounds to get the equipment with need to properly kit ourselves even without actually going to war, risking life and limb. The UK Airsoft Community is already active in charity works, such as Help for Heroes, and allocating just a portion of our annual airsoft budget to help the soldiers such as getting them that eye protection, that Hydration pack, a set of Magpuls, better footwear, or even those plate carrying vests would come a long way.

You can visit the website by clicking on the links above. Surely, Kit4Troops is one of the best ideas in helping out the British soldier.